DanganRonpa L3: Terminal Truth
by Avaari
Summary: A new Killing Game; filled with truth, lies, and uneasy distinctions between the two. There are forces that we cannot see in a world that claims it is not a nightmare. What will it take to bring this to an end. - This started with me having mixed feeling on drv3 and believing that certain aspects could be executed better. I eventually got to a point where I had enough to write
1. Someone Thought Far Too Long

Everything is dark. Humming electronics and faint clicking as preparations finish. Footsteps come closer.

"Are you going to be alright doing this?" A male voice asks. "She is your sister-"

"Was my sister. That person will be gone," a girl's voice cuts him off. "Anyways, we haven't spoken in years. This needs to be done."

* * *

Horizontal slits of light shone through as a hand reached out and pushed, opening the door. She stepped forward, and tripped over the sill.

"Awk!" Her hands reached out to catch herself, hitting the hard tiled floor. Using her now smarting hands, she pushed herself up and looked at her surroundings. "A classroom?" Yet, there were many strange things about it.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling behind her. Turning, she saw another metal door open as a dark haired boy tumbled out of a locker much as she had. He looked up and screamed.

"Don't yell at me!" She shouted.

"Sorry," the boy responded, "I was just surprised. I don't remember how I got here."

"Well, we should get out of this room then, maybe we'll find someone who can tell us," when the boy nodded, she turned to the classroom door and opened it to head outside. "My name's K-"

She cut herself off upon seeing a metal monstrosity in the hallway before her. The barrels of guns pointed at them made the danger very obvious. Quickly, she grabbed the boy's hand and ran down the hallway away from the blue painted machine. Loud, crashing steps pursued them.

"There!" The boy pointed to stairs leading down and she followed. At the bottom, they could see another of the machines in the passage ahead, so they turned left to avoid it. Running, they passed another machine in a side hallway. Following the twists and turns, the two teenagers came to a set of double doors. The rushed in and slammed the doors behind them.

Breathing heavily from exertion, they turned and found they were not the only ones sheltering in what appeared to be a gymnasium.

"That's fourteen so far," a boy with green hair muttered. He was surrounded by a group of teenagers. While varied in details and colour, they were all wearing plain school uniforms.

 _I must be early_ , a thought interjects, but the sound of machinery interrupts. Five of the giant machines appear, and out of them comes what appear to be different coloured bears.

"Rise and shine, ursine!" They yell.

"Congratulations!" The pink bear's high voice calls out.

"Youse lucky bastards have been selected!" The blue bear continues.

"What!"

"No way!"

"I can't believe it!"

Voices clamoured, interrupting each other without care.

"Calm down!" The red bear shouted over the noise. "So we gotta get all of youse ready." He pulls out what appears to be a flashlight, "You guys ready?" Without waiting for an answer he flashes the light into everyone's faces. Everything goes dark, accompanied by the sound of all five bears' laughter.

* * *

A narrow doorway appears before her. She goes to step forward, but looks down instead. Noticing the high metal door sill, she steps over it safely. She turns to inspect the door she just came out of.

"A locker? Why was I inside a locker?" Confused, she inspects her surroundings. "I suppose a locker makes sense inside a classroom at least."

Her inspection is interrupted by rumbling from the other locker. A dark haired boy in a striped black school uniform and cap tumbles out, hitting his head. She rushes to help him.

"Are you alright?" She asks as she offers him a hand.

"Yeah, I think," He looks around. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, some sort of school from the looks of it. I'm Kaede Akamatsu."

He looks at Kaede before responding, "I'm Shuichi Saihara."

Looking around, Kaede takes in their surroundings, "This place is really strange isn't it? It looks like a classroom, but it's overgrown with plants. Is it really old and abandoned?"

"But this here," Shuichi gestures to the blackboard, "It's an electronic screen. Most schools don't have those, why would it be abandoned?"

The two are interrupted by the monitor above the electronic blackboard turning on. Viewable on the screen are five coloured teddy bears sitting on a red couch.

"Rise and shine, ursine!"

"We're the Monokubs!" The blue bear yelled. "Monokid!"

"Monotaro!" The red bear continued at similar volume.

"Monosuke!" The yellow bear declared.

"Monophanie!" The pink bear called in a sweet voice.

"Mon-o-dam." The green bear stated, emotionless.

"What is going on?" Kaede breathed in confusion, but the video continued without acknowledging her. The Monokubs alternated speaking, but seemed to tell a single message. _They must be following a script_.

"This is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. This school was made for sixteen Ultimates we've brought here. You should start exploring this academy and introducing yourself to the other Ultimates, cuz you're going to do an activity together later. So long, bear well!" The screen shut off.

"You're an Ultimate too?" Shuichi asked. "I've never met another Ultimate before."

"Well that makes sense," Kaede responded, "Ultimates are spread all over the country. I've never met another one either, I can't believe there's sixteen here! I'm the Ultimate Pianist. You?"

"Oh, well, I'm the Ultimate Detective, but I'm really still training. I just happened to solve a case that had police stumped and people started calling me that."

"Well, that's really impressive! Not many people could solve a case like that! You should be proud of your work. Like, say, 12 Morceaux de difficulté moyenne by Tchaikovsky."

"I, I suppose," Shuichi pauses. "We should go find the others, right? The Monokubs said there's sixteen."

"Oh! That's right, let's go," Kaede jumps up and secures her backpack straps before opening the door. "Are you coming?"

Outside the door, they enter into a hallway. Like the classroom, it is overgrown with plants. The two doors they find immediately appear to be another classroom and a music room, but both doors are locked. The go down the hallway until they find a blue haired girl in glasses coming toward them. She briefly seems determined and focussed, but seems to fold in on herself upon spotting Kaede and Shuichi.

"Oh, hello," she says quietly. "Are you two Ultimates? I'm Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer."

"That's cool! You probably have been a lot of characters then!" Kaede responds excitedly.

"Oh, not really. I've been a couple characters, but mostly I prefer making character costumes for other people," Tsumugi corrects.

Interactions like this continue as they go through the school. In another classroom, they meet Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader, while he harasses K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot. Downstairs, they find Rantaro Amani, who can't remember his supreme talent. In the Dining Hall, Tenko Chabashira, the Ultimate Aikido Master, asks Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Magician, for details on her supposedly real magic. In the nurse's office, they find Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor, looking for drugs. When they pass the front entrance, an iron grate blocks the door, so they head to the basement. The Library holds Maki Harukawa, the Ultimate Child Caregiver, while the Game room holds Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro. Finding no other escape, they return to the main entrance and find the oddly pretty Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist, who speaks of the beauty of humanity.

Strangely, before they head through the front door, Kiyo says, "The moment your hopes are shattered may too be beautiful."

Trying to ignore the creepy comment, Kaede and Shuichi open the door and head outside. Blinking in the bright light, they gasp in shock.

"It's huge," Kaede breathes. "Who would build this? And why trap us in here?" For they are surrounded by a massive wall, topped by a cage.

"Maybe, … maybe we can find an exit," Shuichi counters. "We don't know for certain yet that we're trapped."

As they look, they find more people in the various areas and facilities: Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut; Kirumi Toja, the Ultimate Maid; Gonna Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist; and Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist. Unfortunately, they find no exit anywhere.

"There's still hope," Kaede says. "We can't get past the areas that seem to still be under construction. Maybe later, we can find an exit in that area."

Before Shuichi can respond, an announcement plays on the monitors. The Monokubs want everyone to meet in the gym. Seeing no alternative, Kaede and Shuichi head back into the academy and towards the gym.

They arrive with the other Ultimate students and wait for some explanation. Seen together, everyone's outfits seem both more and less outlandish. None of them match, despite seeming to wear school uniforms, but the absurd additions many of them have seem more normal when so many are together. Nobody seems to know how they got here and for what purpose. Some express some optimism at the potential of what sixteen Ultimates together could do, but others are pessimistic due to the power of their captors to bring them together with nobody's knowledge.

Suddenly, five massive machines drop in front of them. They seem powerful and in good condition, despite seeming to be older style technology compared to the other things they found while exploring the academy.

"RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!" The voices of the Monokubs come out of the machines, while everyone stares in terror.

"I don't think they're going to attack us," Rantaro says, attempting to quell the panic.

"With those massive guns on the front!" Kaito yells.

"Clearly they're monsters!" Agrees Miu.

"Hey, that's just mean, calling the Exisals monsters like that," Monophanie's voice emerges from one of them.

"If they wanted to kill us, they could have done so before now.," Rantaro argues. "This is likely just to make us cooperate."

"Upupupupu! Somebody's trying to be clever." Another voice laughs. On the gym's stage, another bear, this one black and white, drops down. "Right you are! Some people get so excitable when we tell them about the Killing Game, so we need to bring in these guys to keep you guys in line."

"Killing game?" Kaede can't help but interrupt.

"Yeah, that's right! I'm Monokuma, the god of this world and headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles."

"Another bear?"

"God?"

"Headmaster?"

"Shut up while I explain!" Monokuma yells. "Now, we're not doing some bloody free for all. This Killing Game has class. You can't just murder somebody, you have to survive the class trial as well!" Monokuma goes on to explain the Killing Game's rules and how to win.

 _This is monstrous._ The thought pops into Kaede's head and she can't help but agree.

"We…, we can't take part in some, … some Killing Game," Shuichi says.

"Well, that's the only reason you're here," Monokuma laughs back. "You don't have any choice at this point!"

"What?" Kaede whispers. Then, louder, "We won't. You can't make us kill each other!"

"Upupupupu. You'd be surprised," Monokuma laughs again, before leaving with the Monokubs. The collected Ultimates are left with the horror of what they've been told to do.


	2. Remember This As You Play Your Game pt1

Remember This As You Play Your Game

Kaede felt frozen by the horror of the situation. The other teenagers around her voiced their various disbeliefs and ideas, all reacting to the Killing Game that Monokuma forced onto them. Kaede did nothing but stand and listen, no reaction moving even her face into an expression.

 _Are you just going to stand there?_

"No," she argued against the thought. The others looked over, her defiance piercing through the clamour. "We won't play a killing game. We'll find a way out of here, like Dvořák's Legends duet, together!"

"How can we escape?" Himiko asked. "We already looked for an exit and didn't find one, looking again would be a pain."

"But there were areas blocked off! Maybe if we work together, we can shift some of the stuff to get to those places and find an exit."

"Yeah," Kaito yelled, agreeing with Kaede, "and even if the exit's not over there, we can look over the rest in case someone missed something. We can't give up, we have to take risks in a situation like this!"

Agreement ran through the crowd, even those without excitement for it willing to go along with the plan. Hopeful, the Ultimates trickled out of the gym.

 _Where did that ability to motivate come from?_

"Kaede," a soft voice, Kirumi's, interrupted the thought, "are you alright? Most everyone has left to continue the search as you suggested, but you have lingered here."

"Oh! Right, thanks for reminding me Kirumi! I just got lost in thought."

Together they headed out. The Exisals seemed to have moved some of the junk, opening more of the paths through the academy and people are excitedly searching. Gonta lifted up Ryoma so he could see higher, while Miu suggested upgrades to a wary Keebo. Angie continued to ask various people for offerings for Atua, but seemed to be looking hard as well. Korekiyo found a large, almost castle-like door, but they had no way of opening it. A few people kept to themselves while searching, shutting themselves off from the others.

However, as time passed and the sun grew low, the excitement faded. They had still found no exit and pessimism was setting in. Kaede tried to continue to motivate them, but it was increasingly difficult. By dusk, it was impossible.

"Why can't you just let us stop?" Kokichi demanded.

"But, I -" Kaede started, before Kokichi cut her off.

"Everyone's tired, but you just keep forcing us to keep going and claiming the moral high ground," at his words, Kaede looked around. Many people wouldn't look her in the eye.

"I'm, I'm sorry," she stuttered quietly. "I didn't mean to force everyone."

"That male shouldn't think he can speak for all of us!" Tenko asserted.

Himiko, though, seemed to agree with Kokichi, "I'm out of mana and continuing to look is such a pain."

Tenko looked over, and doesn't seem to want to argue. Kaede couldn't think of what to say, and people start wandering to the dormitories. Vaguely, she heard an announcement on the nearest monitors saying it is eight o'clock.

"I think it was a good idea to look for an exit," Rantaro stopped to say as he passed Kaede, "but I think whoever brought us here thought of that. We need to find a way to end this game, so it can't be continued."

Kaede watched him leave, standing in the pleasant night air. Eventually, she too headed to the dormitories to sleep.

* * *

The following morning, they all met in the dining hall. Despite Kaede's protests that she didn't have to, Kirumi insisted on making them all a delicious breakfast.

"I'm sorry," Kaede started, "about yesterday, I mean. I didn't mean to force anyone to do what I wanted, I just wanted people to not give up and work together."

"Don't apologize Kaede!" Kaito said immediately. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Everyone else just rudely ganged up on you when you were just trying to help us," Kokichi added with a smirk.

"Didn't you accuse her first?" Maki asked wryly. Kaito offered her a fist bump, but Maki turned away from him.

"Hey, we're coming together now, you shouldn't throw accusations like that," Kokichi argued with crocodile tears forming.

"Rise and shine, ursine!" Familiar voices interjected.

"This ain't a game about working together!" Yelled Monokid.

"How come youse haven't murdered anyone yet?" Asked Monotaro.

"Well, they've only had a day and murder is so gory and scary," Monophanie offered.

"We - have - come - to - offer - motive," Monodam said in monotone.

"A motive?" Kaede asked. "We've already told you, we're not playing-"

"Hey Kaede, don't interrupt them," Kokichi said, interrupting her. "This might make the game more interesting."

Monosuke grinned before continuing, "Whichever one of you bastards murders another gets what we're calling the First Blood Perk. You get to skip over that complicated trial process and just leave right away!"

"So long, bear well!" The Monokubs chanted as they left.

"The prisoner's dilemma then," Ryoma said. "That's clever."

"Whaddya mean, prisoner's dilemma?" Demanded Miu.

"It's to force us to stop trusting each other," Rantaro explained. "Any one of us could gain an advantage at the cost of another. Not taking it puts each of us individually in a lower position."

The air in the dining hall suddenly became tense as this scenario played out in peoples minds.

"Surely, nobody would betray us." Kaede tried to say. "We're all friends, right?" Her confidence was sapped from how yesterday turned out. The silence was stifling as she looked around the table to no response. Kaede stands and headed towards the door, not bothering to give an explanation, as tears formed in her eyes. On autopilot, she reached her room and sits on the edge of the bed. She didn't cry, but the tears fell silently.

"Ding, Dong!" The intercom's bell rang. Quickly, Kaede wiped at her eyes before going to answer the door.

Kirumi was waiting for her, "Kaede, are you all right? You left in quite a hurry."

Inviting her in, Kaede responded, "I, I'm fine. I just, I don't know how to get everyone to work together. We can't play the Killing Game. We just can't!" She sat on her bed again and Kirumi followed.

"I do not know how to solve this for you," Kirumi said, taking Kaede's hand, "but I will do all I can to stop the Killing Game."

Kaede smiled at Kirumi, but said nothing. The silence wass interrupted by the intercom ringing again.

"I will take my leave," Kirumi said, standing and brushing her apron. Kaede walked her out and found Shuichi waiting outside.

"Hi Kaede, I'm sorry for interrupting," Shuichi said, "but I, I found something and I need to talk to you. Can you come with me?"

"Of course!" Kaede grabbed her backpack and followed Shuichi out. As they walked towards the school, Shuichi seemed to nervously look around them. Eventually, he brought her to the currently empty library.

"Alright Shuichi, what did you want to show me?"

Shuichi pointed out some marks on the floor in front of one of the bookshelves, "I saw these yesterday when we were searching for an exit. Then I noticed this bookshelf is the only one without books stacked on top of it."

"That is strange, but why is it important?"

"Because of this," Shuichi went up to the bookshelf and pulled on one side of it. It swung outward, it's edge following the marks on the floor. Behind, Kaede saw a door, painted with two colours, black and white. _Just like Monokuma._

Shuichi pointed to a card reader next to the door, "I've sprinkled some dust here to tell if anyone's used it. But this door is suspicious."

"What do you mean?" Kaede asked with clear confusion and surprise.

"This door hints one of us may be cooperating with Monokuma. They would need a door like this to be hidden so that the rest of us wouldn't know."

Understanding dawned, drawing Kaede's eyebrows up, "Oh! If it was just for Monokuma and the Monokubs, they wouldn't need to hide it. But who could cooperate with Monokuma to create a Killing Game?"

"I don't know, so I need you not to tell anyone else. I'll let you know if the dust falls, and we can make plans from there," Shuichi said with a grimace. Uncomfortable as it makes her, Kaede agreed, and the two of them headed back upstairs.

With little else to do, Kaede went to the dining hall. She finds Korekiyo asking Kirumi to make some tea.

"Would you like something as well Kaede?"

"I'll take some tea if you're making it. Thanks Kirumi!" Kaede sat across from Kiyo. "I hope you don't mind me joining you."

"Are you interested in the importance of tea in culture, Kaede?" Kiyo asked.

Kaede was momentarily startled, "What? Oh, um, sure. You study things like that, don't you? As the Ultimate Anthropologist, I mean."

"I study many such things and their effects on culture. Tea is important around the world, but the ways people make and consume tea is quite varied."

"Oh, like Tea Ceremonies!"

"Yes, that is very central in Japan, but other peoples have their own traditions," Kiyo went on to explain other major tea cultures as Kirumi brought out a tray with cups of matcha tea. Before taking his cup, Kiyo removed his mask and replaced it with one he claimed was for drinking.

"Thank you Kirumi," Kaede made sure to say as she left.

"You are very welcome Kaede."

* * *

While Kaede hated the idea of forming any sort of habit in a place like this, the next morning started much the same as the previous one. The atmosphere at breakfast was less friendly, but everyone is there. Smatterings of quiet conversations took place across the table, although many ate in silence.

"Hey, this might be a weird question," Rantaro raised his voice to talk to everyone, "but have any of you heard of Hope's Peak High School?" He looked around at everyone's confused faces.

"No, Gonta doesn't believe so." Gonta was the first to respond.

"Atua says no as well," Angie added.

"Are you alright there, Rantaro?" Kaito asked.

Rantaro looked briefly frustrated, "I'm fine, I must just be stressed out by not remembering my talent."

"Upupupupu," Monokuma's laughter suddenly filled their ears.

"Really! What now?" Kaede snaped with frustration boiling over.

"That's just rude to say about the headmaster," Monokuma said as he appeared. "Especially when you bastards haven't even tried to take part in the Killing Game."

Keebo piped up, "We've told you that we won't -"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I'm here to provide some announcements. First, the Ultimate Pianist Lab and Ultimate Inventor Lab are now open. Second, some encouragement, because people are getting tired of waiting."

Kokichi quirked his head at that statement, but said nothing. Monokuma continued, "So if nobody kills anyone before midnight, all of you forced to participate will be ripped apart by hundreds of Monokumas! So time to start murdering eachother!" He quickly heads out of the room.

"We'll, we'll all die?" Tsumugi asked softly.

"No way," Kaito exclaimed, "because I'm going to get us out of here!"

Tsumugi looked at him with an almost critical interest, "Oh? How? We haven't found any way out despite all our looking." Kaito sputtered, clearly not having formed an actual plan.

Miu headed out, claiming she wanted to check out her lab. A heavy silence fell over the rest as they realized that without a miracle, this may be their last day alive.

Kaede felt something drop into her lap and someone move past her. Opening the folded paper, it read, "I need to speak to you privately -Shuichi." Making excuses, Kaede headed out from the dining hall, meeting Shuichi. He led her to one of the classrooms.

Once inside, he finally explained, "Somebody's used the hidden door in the library. I checked it before coming to breakfast and the dust had fallen."

"So someone is working with Monokuma," Kaede couldn't help but feel down on that thought. Brushing the forming tears from her eyes before they can fall, Kaede said, "We need to watch that door. Hopefully they'll go in again before time runs out."

"Well, they'll need to get an army of Monokumas from somewhere, and I believe that's the most likely," Shuichi suggested. "I think it'll be safer if we use cameras to watch the library, rather than waiting there. There's probably some in the warehouse."

"That's a good idea!" Kaede agreed. "We could probably get Miu to make them detect motion, especially since her lab just opened up."

Shuichi nodded, "Let's go see what the warehouse has first."

The warehouse was much larger than one would think a school housing only sixteen students would need. To cover more ground, the two split up. Kaede found herself in the sporting goods section.

"I'm not going to find any cameras here," Kaede said, picking up a shot putt ball to inspect it. The cool metal ball is heavy in her hand.

"Kaede!" She heard Shuichi call her and she ran over to him. He held some sensors and disposable cameras, "We can keep looking, but these will probably work."

Kaede shook her head, "Let's go with those. With the time limit, we can't afford to keep looking." She took the items from him, and placed them in her backpack, being careful to prevent anything from bumping into each other and damaging something.

 _What are you going to do?_

Having found what they needed, Kaede and Shuichi headed outside to find the Ultimate Inventor Lab. They knocked on the door, hoping Miu would still be inside.

The door opened, with Miu standing before them, "What do you losers want?"

"We have a plan for … for keeping an eye on Monokuma," Shuichi explained, "but we need your help."

"Of course you need my help, I'm the brilliant girl genius!" Miu scoffed. "But I don't have time for your pathetic needs."

Kaede fell to her knees, "Please Miu, we need to do this to help everyone. Please."

"What, what are you doing?" Miu asked, suddenly uncomfortable. "Fine, I'll do it, just please stop doing that."

Kaede almost bounced to her feet, "Thank you so much, Miu!"

Before Miu could respond, the door to the lab was opened by Maki, "Kaede, Himiko said you were in here?"

"Hi Maki, did you need something?"

"Rantaro and Ryoma are arguing in the dining hall," Maki started explaining, "and since you're always wanting us to work together I thought you should know."

Kaede uncertainly responded, "I do but,"

"Go ahead, I can wait for Miu. Just meet me in the classroom by the stairs down to the basement," Shuichi offered as a solution to her dilemma. Kaede smiled and nodded at him, and headed to the dining hall.

"It's a suggestion," Ryoma was speaking, "so that more people can survive."

"There's no need for that," Rantaro said before Ryoma could continue.

Kaede was lost, "Can somebody explain what's going on?"

The two looked over, and Ryoma spoke first, "Y'know we'll be annihilated if this time limit runs out. So I'm offering my life -"

"What!" Kaede couldn't help but interrupt.

Rantaro looked vindicated, "Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

Ryoma continued, completely serious, "If someone kills me, they can get out without a trial and get help for the rest."

Rantaro shook his head, "I'm going to end this game. The game itself."

Kaede didn't understand, but Rantaro stalked off before she could ask. Ryoma shrugged, clearly unconvinced, but seemed willing to let the matter drop. Unsure if she had helped at all, Kaede went to meet Shuichi.

"Miu finished the cameras, she even added a function to auto roll the film," Shuichi said. "There's just one thing I wanted to check first. You see this vent here?"

Kaede looked where he's pointing. A rather large vent, at the bottom of the wall. When she walked closer, she could smell old books. "Is this connected to the library?"

"Yes, and a person could probably fit through it," Shuichi confirmed.

"We should check the other end," Kaede suggested. Shuichi nodded an agreement, and together they headed downstairs.

Luckily, the library was once again empty. Shuichi replaced his dust on the card reader, then suggested arranging the three cameras to point at the two entrances and the hidden door. While he started setting them up, Kaede used the rolling ladder to investigate the vent. Opening the grate, she saw that it could fit a person, although rather snuggly.

"I'm going to rearrange some of the books up here," she called down to Shuichi. "That way I can block this vent and maybe make room for one of the cameras."

Shuichi frowned, "I'm not certain the angle would be right, but you're welcome to try."

Methodically, Kaede stacked the books into smooth piles. Higher stacks were placed near the grate, moving some to potentially make room for a camera. She pushed the ladder along the shelves to continue bringing order to the mess. Towards the end, she opened a couple of books.

"What are you doing, Kaede?" Shuichi asked when he noticed.

"Oh!" Kaede started, her cheeks flushing. "There's just a couple old hymn books with music notation in them here. I got distracted, but I'll leave them here for later" She placed the books down, pages open.

Climbing down the ladder, Kaede said, "I'm sorry Shuichi, but there's too many books up there for a camera. We'll go with your idea instead." She took the camera from Shuichi and affixed it, making sure to adjust the flash switch.

When she was finished, Shuichi said, "I was thinking we could hide in the classroom where that vent comes out. We'll be able to watch the stairs from there and make sure nobody uses the vent to get to the library."

Kaede agreed and they returned upstairs. When they reached the classroom as nighttime started, Kaede sat in the desk in front of the vent. Shuichi sat next to her.

"Do you want to take this?" Shuichi asked. Kaede looked up from organizing her backpack's contents; he held up the small alarm for the sensors.

Kaede shook her head, "No, you should keep hold of it." She reached out to hold Shuichi's hand and found it shaking, so she asked, "Are you nervous?"

He met her eyes and she could see uncertainty, so she continued, "I think I'd be a complete wreck without you here. I just wish there was a piano. I could calm us both down by playing something soothing, like Clair de Lune by Debussy."

Shuichi briefly smiled at her, before the monitor in the room turned on. A video with atrocious sound played, warning them of the coming end of the time limit. Kaede rubbed at her ears, and followed Shuichi to the door to watch for people. They were just in time to see a group of seven people heading downstairs.

"What are-" Kaede started, before Shuichi covered her mouth. It was Kaito, Maki, Gonta, Rantaro, Angie, Tenko, and Himiko. Once they were out of view, Shuichi put a finger to his mouth, exited the room, and followed them downstairs. Kaede kneeled by the vent and put her ear to it. She heard nothing, removed the grate, and tried again. Still nothing could be heard in the library over the sound of the warning video.

"It's all right, they went to the game room," Shuichi said as he returned. Noticing her next to the vent, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was hoping to hear if anything happened in the library. I thought the video was preventing me, but I guess there was nothing to hear."

More time passed, the sky getting darker. Shuichi and Kaede sat in silence, waiting for movement to trigger the alarm. For a time, it seemed nothing would happen, when suddenly the video's din was pierced by an ear-splitting wail.

"The alarm!" Shuichi exclaimed. As Kaede moved to follow, she knocked over her backpack from the desk, the contents spilling out.

 _No!_

"Come on, Kaede!" With time short, Kaede followed Shuichi and rushed downstairs.

"Shuichi? Kaede?" Kaito met them at the bottom of the stairs, accompanied by Tenko. "What are you doing here?"

"There's no time," Shuichi rushed past them towards the library, "the Mastermind might be in here."

"What is he talking about Kaede?" Tenko demanded, but Kaede only brushed past and quickly followed Shuichi into the library.

They saw nobody there, but Kaede noticed the bookshelf hiding the hidden door closing. Slowly, all four of them walked in. Near the back entrance, Rantaro's body lay motionless, his hair matted with blood. Surrounding him was a pool of blood and a shot putt ball. Rantaro was dead.


End file.
